** The German government on Thursday said it would end a contract with Verizon Communications Inc because of concerns about network security, one of the most concrete signs yet that disclosures about U.S. spying were hurting American technology companies overseas. (http://on.wsj.com/TCYqov)

** Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said it would list its American depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "BABA." (http://on.wsj.com/1ltjbyj)

** Federal prosecutors are issuing grand jury subpoenas in connection with General Motors Co's years-long delay in responding to a deadly defect, as new documents raise questions about the auto maker's assessment of which employees were at fault. (http://on.wsj.com/1mi5Jsc)

** Norfolk Southern Corp has become the first big American freight railroad to require its customers to give the railroad legal protection against damages from fires, explosions or the release of hazardous materials carried in tank cars that don't meet the rail industry's latest standards. (http://on.wsj.com/1iLQWLu)

** Foursquare Labs Inc said it would begin charging some businesses for access to its database of restaurants, shops and other local venues, as it tries to make money from information it has gathered from user "check-ins" in the five years since its founding. (http://on.wsj.com/1ltkxZE)

** Alcoa Inc said Thursday it would buy Firth Rixson Ltd from private-equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners LP for $2.35 billion in cash and $500 million in common shares. Alcoa agreed to pay as much as an additional $150 million, depending on the Sheffield, England, manufacturer's performance through 2020. (http://on.wsj.com/UObiJv)

** Google Inc on Thursday started removing results from its search engine under Europe's new "right to be forgotten," implementing a landmark May ruling by the European Union's top court that gives individuals the right to request removal of results that turn up in Internet searches for their own names. (http://on.wsj.com/TzPNex)

FT

Investors have started pulling out of Barclays' "dark pool" after New York's top securities regulator sued the British bank.

Berlin ended a contract with Verizon over concerns about the security of its systems in the first sign of serious commercial repercussions in Europe from the Snowden revelations of mass U.S. government spying on its allies.

The Bank of England imposed limits on mortgage borrowing to try to prevent a new credit boom from derailing the economic recovery. The central bank predicted that surging house prices will rise further still.

The United States increased its role in the long-running and bloody civil conflict in Syria after the Obama administration proposed funding to provide U.S. military training and equipment for the Syrian opposition for the first time.

Wall Street banks, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, are seeking to maintain their hold on the business of trading U.S. companies' debt while boosting liquidity in the $10 trillion market by creating a new trading platform for U.S. corporate bonds.

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Public broadcaster Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) plans to cut up to 20 percent of its staff by 2020, including a sharp reduction over the next year as it transitions to a leaner, mobile-first strategy aimed at keeping costs under control. (bit.ly/1nOhicf)

** Elizabeth Dowdeswell, a former undersecretary-general of the United Nations with a long public service career, has been named Ontario's new lieutenant-governor. (bit.ly/1o8FZTK)

Reports in the business section:

** An American proposal to hike the fees Canadian truckers pay for agricultural inspections when they cross the U.S. border violates the North American free trade agreement, the Canadian Trucking Alliance said. The industry group says the U.S. Department of Agriculture's proposed fee increases would harm U.S.-Canada trade as well as the bottom lines of trucking businesses. (bit.ly/UODyM6)

NATIONAL POST

** Former cabinet minister MP Helena Guergis has resumed her long-running and so-far unsuccessful lawsuit against the Conservatives she blames for ending her political career in fallout from the so-called "busty hookers" scandal. (bit.ly/1m3BjzU)

** For the first time, the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized a First Nation's title to a specific tract of land - a historic decision with major implications for contentious energy projects such as the Northern Gateway pipeline. Thursday's 8-0 decision, which overturned an appeal court ruling, will essentially make it easier for First Nations to establish title over lands that were regularly used for hunting, fishing and other activities. (bit.ly/1sJBdkG)

** The federal Justice department is taking steps to cut $52.2 million worth of legal services it provides government over the next three years with "two waves" of reforms that will eliminate jobs, change the working relationship with client departments and, it hopes, improve efficiency. The department, often called Canada's largest law firm, is introducing several changes following a year-long review. (bit.ly/1lSOnXf)

China

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

- Western Securities Co. Ltd said it plans to raise up to 5 billion yuan ($805.28 million) from private share placements to increase the company's working capital for expansion.

- China Development Bank Corp will establish a housing finance department to support renovation of old and dilapidated housing. The plan was approved by China Banking Regulatory Commission.

SHANGHAI DAILY

- China Telecom plans to sell 100 million mid-and high-end 4G phones to consumers in 2014 after getting licenses for its FDD-LTE technology from the government, the country's No. 3 telecom provider said. China Telecom has 180 million users.

CHINA DAILY

- Low-cost carriers are set to take off in China as more companies look to cash in on rising passenger numbers to offset rising costs and low profit margins. Budget airlines, which currently account for only 5 percent of the aviation market in China, are expected to post strong growth in the next few years, said an executive from Boeing commercial airplanes.

Hurricane Energy said it successfully drilled the first exploration well into granite rock beneath the Atlantic waters close to Britain. It said the gusher at its Lancaster field in the West of Shetlands proved that oil could be produced from "fractured basement reservoirs", describing it as a "game-changer" for the UK.

AmSurg (AMSG) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW BairdBrooks Automation (BRKS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at StifelH.B. Fuller (FUL) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche BankIPC The Hospitalist Co. (IPCM) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC CapitalIntel (INTC) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at BernsteinLukoil (LUKOY) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at BarclaysManitowoc (MTW) upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies

Actavis (ACT) initiated with a Buy at CanaccordAetna (AET) initiated with a Neutral at Sterne AgeeAllscripts (MDRX) initiated with a Hold at TopekaAmpio (AMPE) initiated with a Buy at JefferiesAnalog Devices (ADI) initiated with a Buy at Sterne AgeeAviv REIT (AVIV) initiated with a Hold at MLV & Co.BioMed Realty (BMR) initiated with a Hold at MLV & Co.Centene (CNC) initiated with a Buy at Sterne AgeeCerner (CERN) initiated with a Buy at TopekaCigna (CI) initiated with a Buy at Sterne AgeeColfax (CFX) initiated with a Buy at GoldmanComputer Programs (CPSI) initiated with a Buy at TopekaDatawatch (DWCH) initiated with an Outperform at Imperial CapitalEcopetrol (EC) initiated with an Underweight at BarclaysEndo (ENDP) initiated with a Buy at CanaccordFlowserve (FLS) initiated with a Sell at GoldmanHealth Net (HNT) initiated with a Buy at Sterne AgeeHumana (HUM) initiated with a Neutral at Sterne AgeeITT Corp. (ITT) initiated with a Neutral at GoldmanInterXion (INXN) initiated with an Outperform at Raymond JamesLTC Properties (LTC) initiated with a Buy at MLV & Co.Molina Healthcare (MOH) initiated with a Buy at Sterne AgeePacira Pharmaceuticals (PCRX) initiated with a Buy at CanaccordPentair (PNR) initiated with a Neutral at GoldmanPhysicians Realty Trust (DOC) initiated with a Buy at MLV & Co.Sabra Health Care (SBRA) initiated with a Buy at MLV & Co.Salix (SLXP) initiated with a Buy at CanaccordTeva (TEVA) initiated with a Hold at CanaccordUnitedHealth (UNH) initiated with an Underperform at Sterne AgeeWellCare (WCG) initiated with an Underperform at Sterne Agee

COMPANY NEWS

BP (BP), Rosneft signed a $1.5B oil deal. The terms of transaction provide for export deliveries of oil products with possible substitution with oil of up to 12 million tons within 5 years in bulk on a pre-paid basisCitrix (CTXS) said President and CEO Mark Templeton will not retire as plannedRelational reported an 8.52% stake in Manitowoc (MTW), urges spin-off of food businessAware (AWRE) announced a $1.75 per share special cash dividendNike (NKE) said it is on track to returning China to double digit revenue growthBob Evans (BOBE) says Sandell 'spurned' efforts to settle proxy fight

check the other statistics. how many own their primary residence? how much debt is on it? how many live in rent? how many are employed, and how many are self-employed? how many entrepreneurs? status of the "submerged economy"? cash? other assets? gold? objects of art and similar assets?

if you do an attentive analysis, then a very strange picture emerges. one in which Italians, both private household and companies, are paying back their debt, for example

or, if you include Sweden, one where Sweden is - if you take personal and total debt in account - worse off, and where Italians are best off

meanwhile, Italian sovereign debt is still being repatriated, which also changes a lot in the picture

"Much hoopla has erupted since Kurdistan sold a $106 million load of crude oil to a buyer in Israel. Here was justice at last for the long-suffering Kurds, forgotten in the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement that divided the Middle East and seemed to give every other major nation its own home, including some nations not previously considered nations.

That is the 50,000-foot view, though, and wholly neglects the fate of the first tanker to set sail with Kurdish oil. (The Israeli sale was the second shipment.) The United Leadership left the Turkish port of Ceyhan on May 22. But a combination of US and Iraqi threats have sent it zig-zagging since without a buyer. The US says that Kurdish oil sales carried out without Baghdad’s permission will worsen Iraq’s political crisis.

After that, the Kurds got smart and sent their tankers on other routes, using diversionary methods to sell their crude. But that has done no good for the United Leadership.

First, the tanker headed to Europe with the idea of selling to Italian and perhaps German refiners. But it made a swift change of course across the Atlantic when no buyer apparently would take the chance of a lawsuit. The ship got some 200 miles (320km) on its way toward the Gulf of Mexico, but then, off the coast of Portugal, made a U-turn when a buyer apparently surfaced in Morocco—the Samir refinery in Mohammedia, according to the Iraq Oil Report (paywall).

On June 3, it reached the north African coast, where it has sat ever since, anchored at sea 31 nautical miles (57km) northwest of Rabat.

At one stage, according to a Bloomberg report, the Kurds attempted to sell the oil at the firesale price of $56 a barrel, a little more than half the going rate. The Kurds have angrily disputed the report, but the impression of desperation has sunk in. The United Leadership also at least temporarily shut off its transponder in a possible attempt to prevent tracking, but its location as of yesterday was available at MarineTraffic.com."